Leyton Orient boss Russell Slade believes they were made to rue ‘uncharacteristically’ poor defending as they lost out on the opening day to League One new boys Chesterfield.

Goals from Romauld Boco and Eoin Doyle put the Spireites 2-0 up, before recent signing Darius Henderson gave the O’s hope late on.

However, Paul Cook’s side held on and Slade was a tad disappointed with the manner of the two goals the Brisbane Road side conceded.

“I’m disappointed with the manner of both goals we conceded,” said Slade. “It’s uncharacteristic of our defending. We have got to improve in all areas, but that in particular was disappointing.

“The hesitation for the first goal and then we’ve not held a good line for the second. A hopeful punt forward has cost us in the end.”

All three of the late summer signings – Jobi McAnuff, Henderson and Jay Simpson –came off the bench in a bid to get the O’s back into the game.

And although they couldn’t complete a comeback, the Orient chief was happy with their contribution as they look to get up to speed in terms of fitness.

“The substitutes did have an impact and at this stage it is all about them catching up and getting minutes on the pitch as they fight to get their full fitness because it is a long season,” he added.

“The timing of when they came on was important but in the period that they were on you can see that they will add to the group.”

And while Chesterfield came away with the win on the day, Slade didn’t think there was too much between the two sides on the day.

“It’s not the start you want as you would like to register points as soon as you can,” remarked Slade.

“I have to say I don’t think there was an awful lot in the game. We had chances in the first half, but they got the important first goal.

“I thought we had three chances on the back of that to get into the game. We plugged away and it was only until we made the changes with Henderson making an impact coming on late that we looked like we may get something out of it.”